Economical car

Alexand3er

Hello,
I'm looking for a car. It's my first car, so I need a bit of advice. The main requirement for me is that car should be economical because I have to ride long hours every day. Do you have any suggestions? My budget is up to £7000.

Thanks in advance!

tacpot12

If you are driving long distances, you might be better off with a diesel. Diesels are out of fashion at the moment because they are more polluting than petrol or electric cars.

It would help to know how old you are. If you are under 25 you will also need a car that is also cheap to insure. And it would help to know if you need to drive into any area where congestion or emissions charging is in place. 

Ebe_Scrooge

I was about to say the same thing - depending on what you call "long hours", a diesel may suit you.  Despite their current image as being spawn-of-satan, they're actually the ideal choice for many people.  Insurance, as noted above, may be a very large consideration if you're a new or young driver.

Aside from that, what sort of driving do you do - town, motorway, a mix?  Do you need reasonable luggage space, or is it just you in the car?  If you're spending a long time in the car then creature comforts may be important to you - comfy seats, a decent stereo, a decent climate control system... the list is endless.  There are so many variables to consider, you really need to nail down what your priorities are and what's important to you.  But for £7000 you'll be able to get a very nice and reliable used car, you'll have no shortage of choice - that's more than I've ever spent on a car, and I've never had a lemon yet :-)

If your ONLY consideration is fuel economy then it largely depends on your type of driving.  This is a very broad generalisation, but ... for long motorway cruising, look at diesel.  For round-town driving a small petrol is probably better suited.  Like I say, that's a very general view, but it's a good starting point.

Stubod

If you go onto "Autotrader" you can set a search on your priorities. eg price, mpg and insurance group, (and distance from your location). That will at least give an indication of cars that are available to you, you can then refine your search based on fuel type, age of car, mileage etc.

jimbo6977

If you're doing multi drop, an ex Royal Mail van is a decent bet. Or if you  need a "car", a Nemo or Bipper with seats. 

Grumpy_chap

jimbo6977 said:

If you're doing multi drop, an ex Royal Mail van is a decent bet. Or if you  need a "car", a Nemo or Bipper with seats. 

Where does the OP's requirement for a van or "van-car" arise?

Scrapit

Could you be a bit more vague?
And where the hell did multi drop come from?

forgotmyname

Economical on the fuel but high depreciation and high insurance and expensive parts when it needs servicing?

Or something that may use a little more fuel but costs less to buy and insure and fix?

Whats long hours?

Goudy

There's usually a trade off between economy and comfort.
I'm not just talking about being cramped in a small econo box car, but a piling up long miles in a low powered, cheaply built car can take it's toll.
Modern diesels can be really fuel efficient but there are down sides, but they are being pushed off the road and out of cities due to emissions and they can be expensive to fix as some of their emission control systems are complicated and expensive.
Manufacturers are dropping them from their lineups really quickly these days.

Small engined petrol turbo cars are popular at the moment, but they rarely get the headline mpg figures manufacturers quote as they tend to need to be worked hard and can suffer for it when it comes to reliability.

The other option is non turbo petrol engined car. Some manufacturers have bucked the trend of the small turbo and enhanced their non turbo engines with clever technology that works really well. These tend to be more reliable and easy to live with. They are also a bit more refined to drive and overall as ecomnomical or better in the real world.
Some have enhanced them further with mild or full hybrid systems which push the economy even further yet still as reliable.

For the money you have and the trips you plan I would look to find one of these non turbo petrol engine cars around the size of a medium hatchback.
You might find one with a hybrid system a bit out of your budget, but something like a Toyota Auris or Mazda 3 should be achievable.

foxy-stoat

Try a 8th gen Civic, or 9th, 2.2 or 1.6 diesel both are pretty good engines.  Very comfortable and will do many hundreds of thousands of miles if serviced.